My lawyer in Petersham is not listed on the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Solicitor Panel. Is it possible for me to use my family solicitor even though they are excluded from the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel of approved conveyancing solicitors?
The limited options open to you here include:
- Complete the purchase with your preferred Petersham solicitors but Norwich and Peterborough Building Society will need to retain a solicitor on their list of acceptable firms. This will result in additional total legal charges as well as cause frustration.
- Choose a new lawyer to act in the conveyancing, not forgetting to check they are Norwich and Peterborough Building Society approved.
- Persuade your Norwich and Peterborough Building Society based solicitor to try to join the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society panel
A colleague recommended that if I am buying in Petersham I should ask my conveyancer to execute a Neighbourhood, Planning and Local Amenity Search. Can you explain what the purpose of this search is?
A search of this type is occasionally quoted for as part of the standard Petersham conveyancing searches. It is a large report of about 40 pages, listing and setting out significant information about Petersham around the property and the people living there. It incorporates an Aerial Photograph, Planning Applications, Land Use, Mobile Phone Masts, Rights of Way, the Petersham Housing Market, Council Tax Banding, the demographics of People living in the area, the dominant type of Housing, the Average Property Price, Crime details, Petersham Education with plans and statistics, Local Amenities and other useful information concerning Petersham.
My wife and I have a 4 bedroom Edwardian property in Petersham. Conveyancing solicitor acted for me and Coventry Building Society. I happened to do a free search for it on the Land Registry database and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the matching address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should read the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register for mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Petersham and other areas of the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with lenders. You can also check the situation with the conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
I need to retain a conveyancing solicitor for purchase conveyancing in Petersham. I've land on a site which appears to be the ideal solution If it is possible to get all this stuff done via email that would be preferable. Should I be wary? What should out be looking out for?
As usual with these online conveyancers you need to read ALL the small print - did you notice the extra charge for dealing with the mortgage?
I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Petersham both have approximately forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Petersham is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. For most purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Petersham conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease. You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without success. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Petersham conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?
in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Petersham flat is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 60.45 years.
New build sellers have recommended to me a conveyancing practitioner and I've sought an estimate from them. It's almost two hundred pounds less expensive than my preferred Petersham conveyancing practitioner. Should I use them?
Builders normally have panels of property lawyers who are quick and who know the developer’s contract and property lawyer. As many developers offer an inducement to use a preferred lawyer for this reason, any increased fees can be avoided and a builder won't recommend a conveyancing warehouse and run the risk of having the conveyancing stall when they require an exchange within a tight deadline. The argument for not opting for the suggested lawyer is that they may be hesitant to fight for your interests at the risk of upsetting the housebuilder. If you worry that this may be the case you should stick with your high street Petersham lawyer.